Depends on who you ask

This morning's paper has a story from a conference call between Tennessee media and Sen. Bob Corker about their recent trip to Greenland to learn about "global warming" or "climate change."

The Senator appeared to take a view that is right in the middle of the issue, which is quite a feat to pull off in Washington these days.

You see, if you want accurate information about this topic, you need to check multiple sources, because the answer you get all depends upon who you ask.

For example, in this press release from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Sen. Barbara Boxer says that "I know I have a responsibility to move now to lessen the impacts of severe global warming."

The Kangia glacier, already one of the world's fastest moving two decades ago, has doubled its speed since then, an acceleration scientists say is driven by rising global temperatures.

You only need basic reasoning skills to understand climate change. The earth is a very large bubble, not much gets in and not much gets out. If we fill this bubble with carbon dioxide, a waste product from our and other animals' natural respiration process, then we will die. Luckily for us we have plants. Plants use carbon dioxide and release oxygen in their energy harnessing process called photosynthesis. Unfortunately humans are destroying the habitats that plants thrive in and we humans continue to increase in numbers. Not to mention we burn coal and other fossil fuels in our quest for energy that also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Many scientists believe that carbon dioxide traps heat in our atmosphere like a blanket, I can't speak to that. Many of these chemists, ecologists, biologists, and other scientists have devoted their entire lives to their fields of study and probably have good reason for their beliefs. Oil executives, Barbara Boxer, and Phil Valentine have not put too much time into these areas of study. If I touch something I leave a fingerprint. If I could take a syringe and inject a red gas into a bubble I will have changed the bubble into a red gas filled bubble. Regardless of the cycle of the sun or how hot it is in March our planet is changing due to the activities of man. We must work now to reduce the size of our fingerprint on the atmosphere. We also should keep our rivers and forests clean so we will have fresh water to drink and animals to hunt for food. No human knows for sure what will happen as a result of our actions, but one thing is certain; we ARE changing our planet.

-- Posted by nathan.evans on Wed, Aug 8, 2007, at 1:40 PM

AMEN Nathan...

-- Posted by Dianatn on Wed, Aug 8, 2007, at 1:43 PM

We most certainly are changing the planet, maybe not single handedly, but we are...

Great points nathan...

This issue, along with hundreds of others are just cast aside as if there is no problem, while they have not one minute of expertise of real research to prove how humans could NOT be polluting the earth. The facts remain the earth is deteriorating, and how rapidly it happens is up to humans!